


Paved With Pain

by Lunarium



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Experimentation, Gen, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 03:24:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16054484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/pseuds/Lunarium
Summary: A group of scientists use Maglor in determined the habitability conditions of an Earth-like planet. Maglor may not have agreed to this.





	Paved With Pain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Independence1776](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Independence1776/gifts).



“Welcome. We are glad you can join us today.” 

The man’s smile was so mocking that Maglor wanted to knock it off his skull, if his own head wasn’t so thick with fog. He shook himself out of his daze. How did he get here? 

“I hope you understand English, yes?” 

“Of course I do!” Maglor snapped. 

The man laughed. “Of course. You have been here for a while. A very _long_ while. My assistant told me all about you. How he’s seen you nursing an injured leg one day and walking without a limp the very next, how he’s see you in the background of a photograph framed over his grandmother’s fireplace. How he’s found you depicted in old paintings in Europe, early photos of American immigrants, among the crowd during the Kennedy assassination. 

Maglor grimaced. “Guess I just have one of those faces.” 

The man chuckled in a manner that told Maglor his fib wasn’t going to be taken. 

“You fascinate us, ancient one.” 

Maglor made to throw himself off and get away, ready to fight his way to freedom if he had to, but he was bound tight to the metal table. 

“What do you want?” he demanded. 

The man stepped close and leaned in so Maglor could get a closer look at him. 

“I am Doctor Viktor Knox,” he said. “I work closely with NASA, and we have been in search for Earth-like planets with conditions fitting for life. As I’m sure you’re aware, our planet is not looking too good these days! 

“We have had our eyes on one in particular over the last several decades. When our ancestors first became aware of this planet, they didn’t have the technology needed to reach there, but now we do. However, one question still remains: just how hospitable will this planet be for us? 

“We’ve already had rovers bring in samples. I was tasked with studying the habitability of this nearby planet, but…it’s not quite easy studying them without a test subject. Imagine our delight in finding one so ancient who has survived all sorts of calamities! Your biology is similar to us. _Very_ similar, and yet…that fast healing. Your body must have taken in poison and survived before. You can be useful for us. For all of humankind. And for others like yourself if more of you exist. We wouldn’t want your kind abandoned in this dying world.”

Maglor kept his mouth shut. Saying anything could jeopardize the few hundred Avari who still roamed the planet along with him. He appreciated their presence on this lonely existence among the fast-aging and the quick waves of generations of humans. Saying anything could lead him, and them, to more trouble. 

But how did he get here? Was he drugged? What had he last drunk? Did the assistant slip something into his biodegradable paper cup from a fast food joint while Maglor had turned his back to grab a few ketchup packets? Was that all it took? A minor misstep and he was stuck here, trapped, to be studied and tortured as an animal? 

His fists clenched as an ancient pride boiled to the surface. Did they not know who they dealt with? But the pride ebbed fast enough. He was old even in the manner of the elves, and he had grown weary in all his years roaming. Just the thought of fighting even one more battle tired him. 

He could instead try to fool the scientist into believing he wasn’t an elf. A mere human, that he will die on the table if given any of the extraterrestrial samples. Or he could make Dr. Knox believe he was more fae than human, a creature like the old folktales, someone so far removed from humans that any data collected would serve him no use for humans. 

But he was no fool; he knew what blood testing could tell them. He still had the original newspaper clippings about Watson and Crick’s discovery, as he was fascinated by the idea of DNA and where it would lead humanity. And he knew that no matter what story he gave, his own DNA would betray him. 

Dr. Knox motioned for his assistant to get the first test sample. From a box labeled Project G8C, he pulled one small test tube. 

“We’ll start with this,” he said under his breath as he drew the contents into a syringe. “Found in the soils. May be inhaled by humans. Need to make certain it would not cause harm—of course, the amount I’m about to give you is tenfold the typical amount one may find while taking a stroll around the planet.” 

He injected it into Maglor’s arm. For a brief moment nothing happened, then there was a surge of extremely hot burning sensation sweeping through his veins. He gasped as he felt his lungs constrict painfully as though a train had rolled over him. The fire rolled down to his fingertips, boiled through his abdomen, then rushed down to his groin, giving him a sensation that he needed to urinate, then further down to his legs. 

The assistant wiped the sweat from his brow. He was twitching, Maglor realized. Cringing, contorting in agony…

“You’re seeing this?” the assistant said. 

“Yes,” Dr. Knox said. “His vitals are crashing, but he’s holding on. Whatever’s in the soil of this planet could knock our kind dead in great amounts. You got the sample of his blood and bone marrow?” 

“Yes, sir.” 

_When did you do that?_ Maglor wanted to demand if he wasn’t in so much pain. 

After what seemed like hours, the pain subsided. Dr. Knox checked through his vitals again and nodded. 

“He adapted well,” he said. “I suspect some of our own may find the soil a bit of an irritant, but it passes. Just to make sure…” 

They gave him another dose, and Maglor found the pain wasn’t so bad. He barely felt anything. This delighted Dr. Knox, and the assistant beamed at him. 

But there were more samples to go through. Some weren’t too bad. Maglor just had to grit his teeth and clench his fists through the pain. But others produced a pain so severe the world around him turned black. 

Finally, they had come to the end. They let him rest afterwards with the sort of kindness Maglor was surprised to find. He had half-suspected they would axe him into pieces and study the effects of the chemicals on his cells. The assistant informed him they didn’t need to do that; a biopsy would suffice.

They let him rest for as long as he needed, although leaving his rooms was strictly forbidden. Dr. Knox gave him a brochure before leaving. The brochures themselves were various drafts that would eventually be used in persuading people to relocate to the new planet. 

Suddenly Maglor understood the meaning of Project G8C: the planet they were seeking was Gliese 832 c. If proven to be hospitable, she may even be renamed to simply Gliese. 

The rover had come back with photos of a beautiful planet, unmarred by any hands. It reminded Maglor of his own home. Perhaps, Valinor too was a planet far out of reach. But perhaps it required an entirely different sort of ship, and a means of travel not by sea but by sky. The thought was entertaining. Modern. Either way, as he continued studying the photos, Maglor felt something lighten and glow deep within, and the pathway paved with his own pain became lighter, and the reason for the pain forgiven and forgotten. 

For the first time in a long while, Maglor smiled.


End file.
